Spline joint for ceiling boards



' April 1970 w. 1'. FISH, JR., YETAL 3,507,083

ING BOARDS Filed D60. 31. 1968 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,507,083 SPLINE JOINT FOR CEILING BOARDS William T. Fish, Jr., Millersville, and Norman A. Johnson, Lititz, Pa.,,fassignors to Armstrong Cork Company, Lancaster, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Dec. 31, 1968, Ser. No. 788,290 Int. 'Cl. E04c 1/10, 1/30 U.S. Cl. 52-586 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Large size panels are used in mobile homes to form the ceiling. A spline is positioned in a kerf between the adjacent edges of two adjacent boards. Staples passing through the spline hold the spline and boards in position. The panels are additionally provided with groove structures through which staples pass to further hold the boards in position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The invention relates to a particular joint used in securing large size boards in position to form a ceiling structure. More particularly the invention resides in a ceiling structure for mobile homes.

Description of the prior art The ceilings of mobile homes are formed by mounting in position ceiling boards which are 4' wide and or 12' long. These boards are mounted in position by some appropriate fastening means which hold the boards to backup strips approximately 16" apart. Normally, the

boards were held in position by the use of a batten strip over the butt joint between two adjacent boards. In the area between the edges of the board rosettes and screws were used to fasten the board to the backup strips placed on the 16" centers. Obviously, the batten strip and rosettes were visible and detracted from the overall appearance of the ceiling.

The first step in overcoming this unattractive appearance was the use of grooves in the 4' wide board every 16 inches. The grooves then corresponded with the positioning of the backup strips. Staples were then used to fasten the board to the backup strip with the staples being placed in the grooves in the board. The staples, being in the grooves, were now not in a position to detract from the overall appearance of the board.

In order to secure the joint structure which appeared to be nothing more than a groove in a board, the boards were provided with a butt joint with a slightly angled corner so that when two boards were placed side by side they give the appearance of a V joint. In order to fasten the edges of the board to the backup strip, the boards were provided with a kerf structure into which is inserted a spline. Staples were then passed through the spline and held the spline and adjacent boards in position relative to the backup strip.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is directed to a joint used in installing large size ceiling boards without the use of unsightly batten strips, molding or trim used to cover the butted joints of the ceiling boards. The boards used in the ceilings of mobile homes will be 4' wide and 10 to 12' long. Boards of this size have substantial growth or expansion under certain conditions and are subject to excessive vibration when the mobile home is being moved. The expansion problem is overcome by tightly fastening the board to backup strips with a suflicient number of fas- 3,507,083 Patented Apr. 21, 1970 teners. The growth problem is handled by the joint structure of this invention.

The edges of adjacent boards are provided with a kerf structure into which is placed a spline. Approximately one-half of the spline is inserted into the kerf of each board. A A" space is allowed between the boards at the butted joint. The spline is provided with a knife-edge structure. The combination of the A3" spacing and the knife-edge structure permits the expansion or growth of the boards without the buckling of the boards.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the butted joint of adjacent boards; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of part of a mobile home ceiling.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The mobile home structure is provided with a backup strip 2 every 16" to form the base for mounting of the boards constituting the ceiling. The boards 4 are 4' wide and 10' to 12' in length depending upon the width of the mobile home. The boards are provided with square edges 6 so that a butt joint 8 may be formed between two adjacent boards. One edge 10 of the board is cut back so that when two boards are placed together they provide the visual appearance of a groove-like configuration. The long edges of the boards which are mounted adjacent each other are provided with a kerf 12 into which is positioned a spline 14. Approximately one-half of the spline is in the kerf of each of the adjacent boards. Each edge of the spline joint 14 is provided with a knife-like edge configuration 16. A plurality of staples such as staple 18 is used to fasten the spline joint to the backup strip 2. This in turn holds the ceiling boards in position.

The boards are mounted in position by inserting the spline into the kerf of one board and then sliding the kerf of the second board over the spline. The two boards with the spline therebetween are held in place adjacent the backup strip 2, and staples are placed through the spline to fasten the spline to the backup strip. The staples are so positioned relative to the joint between two adjacent boards that the staple is fully positioned within the joint between the two'boards and, consequently, do not appear on the outer surface of the board. Consequently, I

the finished joint structure provides the same general appearance as the adjacent grooves 20 and their staples 18. Therefore, it can be readily seen that a single board would have two grooves 16" on center and 16" from either edge of the board. These grooves contain staples which hold the center portion of the board in position. The edge of the board coacting with the spline and adjacent board are stapled in position by staples which pass through the spline.

It should be noted that when two adjacent boards are mounted in position approximately A2 of space is allowed between the adjacent boards. Boards of the size used herein are such that expansion of the boards becomes a problem. Consequently, clearance for expansion must be permitted. So that the spline, which is normally fully positioned within the kerf, does not act to prevent the expansion of the boards, the spline is provided with a knife-like edge 16 so that it will cut into the board as the boards expand. In addition, this configuration provides a thickened center portion to the spline so that the spline, when stapled in position, will pull down tightly against the upper edge 22 of the kerf structure to insure a tight fit of the boards against the backing strip 2. This is necessary so that the boards will not be loose and due to vibration of the loose boards during movement of the mobile home cause the staples to be pulled loose. 'It is obvious that the large size boards referred to herein are the 4' x 10 boards normally used in mobile homes. However, this can also cover the 2' x4 boards sometimes used in mobile homes.

What is claimed is:

1. A ceiling and joint structure for mobile homes comprising: backup strips in the mobile home ceiling, two adjacent ceiling boards having a multi-square foot size, each board having a square edge extendinglongitudinally the entire length of the board and being placed in an adjacent relationship with an adjacent similar board, said contiguous edges of said adjacent boards overlying a backup strip, a spacing of approximately /a" exists between adjacent boards so that the two boards form a joint structure giving the appearance of a single board with a groove cut therein, a kerf cut in the adjacent longitudinally extending square edges of the boards, a spline inserted into the kerf of each adjacent board, the spline having a knife-like edge configuration which will cut into the ceiling boards upon expansion of the boards, staple means passing only through the spline and then into the backup strip thereby securing the spline and multi-square foot boards in position to the backup strip under the longitudinally extending adjacent edges, and each board being provided with additional grooves parallel to the aforesaid joint structure, each groove being positioned over a backup strip and a plurality of staples in the grooves fastening the boards to these backup strips.

2. The ceiling and joint structure for mobile'homes as setforth in claim 1 wherein the spline has a configuration which provides a thickened center portiton in a cross-sectional view of the spline, and the spline is reduced in cross section in the direction from the center portion of the spline to the edge of the spline.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 396,917 1/1889 Butcher 52--586 1,632,395 6/1927 Fellows 52- 586 X 1,869,702 8/1932 MacChesney 52586 2,158,732 5/1939 Shannon 52-586 X 2,216,948 10/1940 Keating 57r-586 2,556,884 6/1951 Muller 52-444 X 2,761,142 9/1956 Sorenson 29-432 2,835,938 5/1958 McElroy 52586 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,271,428 7/ 1961 France.

HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner S. D. BURKE, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

